So many of my clients have issues with too much paper in their homes and offices and would like to go paperless and be “green”, but they aren’t sure where to start and don’t want to spend a lot.

So here are some cheap and easy tips, with special thanks to Chris Nichols, owner of the Nichols Law Firm, who provided much content for this article. Chris consults with Attorneys interested in going paperless, so please contact him for an appointment if you’re interested or check out his blog.

1. Scan it.
   

   For do-it-yourselfers, Chris recommends the Xerox Documate and PaperPort software that comes with it. They allow for bulk scanning of multiple documents by inserting a blank sheet of paper in between them. Chris recommends that before puchasing equipment, decide how much scanning you'll be doing, then consider the document feeder capacity, speed, and the ease of use of the software that comes with it. He also recommends scanning at 200 dpi for faster scanning. His other tip is to purchase a 2nd monitor; one for the active work you're doing, and a second for document scanning.

   Don't have time to scan it yourself? Shoeboxed.com will do it for you -- everything from documents, to receipts, to business cards and will even pre-categorize receipts for you so you can immediately run reports to see where your money is going. Get 2 months free if you sign up for 1 year of service!

2. Rely on software.
   • OpenOffice.org has everything Microsoft Office has and then some, and it’s FREE! Instead of writing everything on paper that will get lost, use your computer and software to get more done.
   • Zoho.com is another free place to get email, spreadsheets, databases, etc. for free.
   • Cnet.com also has a lot of free software you can download that makes life easier.
3. Voice to Text & Virtual Assistants. By recording your notes to your computer instead of writing it on paper, you’ll never lose papers and you’ll never drown in piles. Inexpensively turn your computer into a dictaphone and save as a computer file with:
   • Express Dictate
   • IBM’s ViaVoice
   • Dragon’s Naturally Speaking

   Or use a Virtual Assistant software which will covert your voicemails into emails:

   • jott.com costs only $3.95/mo and you can call your voicemail number, leave a message, and Jott will convert it to a text message or email. They also have iPhone & Outlook apps to get your messages on the go.
4. Use Smart Phones. Having a phone with the ability to access your calendar, surf the web, send and receive email, and have GPS directions is a great way to eliminate a plethera of other papers/notebooks, etc.

Remember the Seinfeld episode where George’s wallet was so fat he sat at an angle? Well, there’s even a tip for wallet and keychain clutter…

If you’re like most people, you’ve got a whole stack of club cards in there….a bulk warehouse card, a card for every grocery store, a Blockbuster card, etc. Or you may have a keychain that weighs a ton and is so crowded with mini-cards that you can’t get to your keys easily. Wouldn’t it be nice to carry only 1 card instead? Now you can.

Try these 2 sites:
www.justoneclubcard.com
www.keyringthing.com

Just enter the barcode numbers of all your favorite club cards, then print out one single card on your home computer or have them ship you one for every family member. Put that in your wallet and ditch the rest!

Or for those of you who prefer a more “high-tech” approach and have an iPhone or smart phone, try the CardStar app. Just enter the membership numbers and it’ll generate the barcodes on your phone for the cashier to scan. Amazing!

Ever wonder what to do with all your old eyeglasses, prom dresses, or electronics parts? Here’s a great article to help you donate and sell your used (and unique) items.

Another neat article about recycling or selling old gadgets I thought I’d share for all you techies out there whose collections of old cell phones, ipods and digital cameras keep eating up valuable storage space.

In General

• Was it a purchase mistake? (if so, that does not make it better to keep it)
• Does it take more time and effort to manage than it is worth?
• Does it make others unhappy to see it? Am I putting things before people and relationships?
• Do I need it?
• Is it redundant?
• Do I love it? Does it make me happy or unhappy to see it?
• If I were moving, would I pay to have it packed and moved?
• Would I buy it again?
• Is it broken, and if so, am I ever going to fix it?
• Am I ever really going to finish this project (book, quilt, etc.)?
• Can I borrow or purchase another one, if needed, without spending a fortune or having trouble finding it?
• When’s the last time I used it (assuming I knew it was there)?
• If I knew that someone else would really benefit from having this (i.e. if we found a great place to donate it), would that make it easier for me to let it go?
• Is this adding value to my home or business?
• Is this item getting in the way of my ability to find what I need, when I need it?
• Will this help me make or save money?
• Does it take up valuable “real estate” in my home by being here? Is it worth the space I’ve dedicated to it? Is there another place better suited for it?
• If I keep it, will I remember I have it? If I remember I have it, will I be able to find it?
• Does it belong to me? If not, get it to the real owner and out of your space.
• Convince someone else that you need to keep it. If you can’t, then let it go.

Paper

• Am I legally required to keep it (i.e. vital & tax records), and if so, for how long?
• Will I actually use it/refer to it/need it?
• Is the information still current?
• Can it easily be duplicated or created if needed again (i.e. found on the web)?
• What’s the worst that can happen if I toss it?
• Is it a duplicate?

Clothes

• Is the item in good condition? Does it have stains or tears or is it too worn?
• Is the item still in style?
• Does it fit? If not, is it within a reasonable number of size ranges of my current size range to keep it?
• Do I love the item, or even like it? Does it make me feel great to wear it?
• When was the last time I used this item? Would I use it again now that I remember that I have it?
• How many do I currently own of this type of item? Do I have something similar I like better?

Memorabilia

• Do I have anything else that reminds me of this event/person/time?
• If I took a picture of it, would that make it easier for me to let it go?
• Am I keeping it because someone gave it to me and I’ll feel guilty if I get rid of it?
• Does the sentimental value exceed the practical value? If so, by all means, keep it!

Special thanks to the NAPO (National Association of Professional Organizers) chat group for authoring and compiling these questions!

Don’t let a dirty car interior ruin another Saturday! Keep it clean, keep the kids happy, and get things done while you drive by creating a mobile office or “mommy station” in your vehicle.

Here’s a checklist of things you’ll need:

 Soft-sided nylon organizer, preferably with a handle or adjustable compartments. I like soft-sided because they squish into almost any space no matter what you drive. Most megamarts carry things you can use like:

Car organizers, Soft-sided sewing organizers, Soft-sided tackle box
Trunk, CD & Glove Box Organizers
Soft-sided trash containers & Catch-Alls

 Industrial strength Velcro (to keep everything in place)
 Hand sanitizer
 Trash or grocery bags
 All purpose wipes & glass wipes
 Febreeze
 Pens
 Lip Balm/Gloss
 Hand lotion
 Gum
 Travel tissues
 Notebook
 Mail station (accordian file with stamps, blank cards & envelopes, and a contact list)

For a mobile office, you can also fill your organizer with:
 Business cards
 Bank deposit slips
 Mileage notebook
 Office supplies like paperclips, binder clips, small stapler, business card holders, calculator
 Accordion file with client literature, vendor info, intake forms, bank forms, tax forms, place to collect receipts

For a “Mommy Station”, you can also fill your organizer with:
 Paper towels
 Diapers
 Burp cloth & pacifier
 One change of clothes for each child
 Things to keep kids occupied like coloring books, crayons, toys, DVDs
 Juice boxes, bottled water, granola bars & snacks
 First aid kit
 Behind the seat organizer or bin for kids toys
 School & Sports calendar

Once your Mobile, here are some tips for keeping the car clean:

• Keep a trash bag open at all times to prevent pitching trash to the floor. If you have a minivan or SUV, hang a trash bag in every row. Empty it when you’re pumping gas.
• Ask kids for help to clean up their toys and put them in the back-of-the-seat organizer or toy bin before they get out of the car.
• Wipe down your dash and windshield at long red lights to keep them dirt-free.
• Spray Febreeze before you head into the mall, grocery store, or Megamart. Chances are you’ll be there a while and it’ll give the upholstery a chance to dry before you get back into your fresh smelling vehicle.

So it’s time to hear all your juciest secrets….I want to know, what’s the strangest thing you’ve ever “hoarded?”

For me, it was my hair.

Not in a gross way. I didn’t keep it in a jar or anything. But for most of my life (until I started my organizing business, actually) I had very long hair and kept the length somewhere between my bra strap and my bottom. I felt it was feminine and pretty, but the truth is, I don’t spend a lot of time on beauty and I didn’t condition or cut it as often as I should, so it would get greasy at the top, fried in the middle, and dry with split ends on the bottom. And as I got older and decided not to waste my time styling it since it took so long to dry, I’d began just washing it and pulling it back into a floppy bun. I even went to work this way. But I didn’t realize how that aged me because I thought as long as my hair was long and feminine, I looked good, even if it was in a knot on my head.

The truth is, I was hiding behind my hair. Literallly. It was long enough that I could let it down and it would cover my shoulders and arms, so it was like a warm jacket. But I already had jackets, so I decided it was time for a makeover.

I cut off my hair and LOVED it! In less than 10 minutes I can have hair that’s now more stylish. I decided to take this new freedom a step further and do a face makeover, and apparantly I was just in time. I told an Ulta store clerk my age and she gasped an “OH!” in that way people do when they find out someone’s just died, and said, “Honey, come with me!” She introduced me to another clerk and they shoved me into a chair and began dabbing me with gooey cotton balls & stingy toners, dusting me with powders, and dabbing on all kinds of shimmery glossy things. It was a whirlwind, but I felt like Cindy Crawford when I walked out of there. Well, Cindy Crawford with $200 worth of beauty products.

But it was worth it. So now I want to know, what’s the strangest thing you’ve held on to and why? What have you let go of that made you feel free?

I was chatting with friends this weekend about some of their “stuff” issues. One wanted to know about how to help her husband (who’s starting to some tendencies of his hoarding father), and the other wanted to know how to better deal with the emotional side of purging some of belongings that reminded her of her deceased mother. What I found interesting is how many people consider themselves “hoarders” just because they have a hard time letting go.

There’s a big difference between having clutter, being a packrat, and hoarding.

Clutter happens when people are busy doing other things, or have inadequate storage, or are postponing making decisions about what to do with certain items and stuff piles up. With a little elbow grease, clutter can usually be cleared quickly and storage solutions can be put in place so everything has a home moving forward. However, clutter can sometimes be a symptom of a larger issue like chronic disorganization, ADD, depression, or feeling a lack of control.

Being a packrat means that people pile things up because they like being surrounded by it and they don’t want to throw things away unless they’re forced to. The clutter in this case has some perceived value to it, and packrats usually hold on to things because they “may need it” someday and can usually tell me several things that item could be used for. It’s creative thinking, but it makes for unhappy surroundings because those items continue to pile up even if there is ample storage because there’s just too much of it, and the owners don’t perceive the items as being in the way. Putting things in perspective generally helps here. For example, asking, “How long have you had this item and when’s the last time you used it?” Or, “Tell me a date you plan on using this item” generally help people let go if it’s something they haven’t touched in a while. Another good question to ask is, “What’s more important, keeping this item or having a functional space?” For example, “Is it more important to keep those boxes of old papers in the living room or have a space your baby can safely crawl & play?” People will usually make the right call.

Hoarding is very different and goes much deeper than having too much stuff. The National Study Group on Chronic Disorganization (NSGCD) grades 5 levels of hoarding. There are lots of reasons for hoarding and true hoarders usually require the help of a therapist, an organizer, and other teams such as mold and pest control specialists. True hoarding can be dangerous to the health of the hoarder and their family and this is the real difference between “packratism” and hoarding. Here’s an interesting article about The Hoarding Syndrome.

An organizer can help get to the root cause of any of these and put organizing systems and teams in place to create organized spaces and organized minds.

What I want to know is, how many of you consider yourself a hoarder and why?

If the stacks of business cards you’ve collected are beginning to look like the mountain in Close Encounters, or your wallet rivals George Castanza’s, oh yes, it’s time to do something. But who’s got time to key in all that info to your contact database, or scan & categorize all those receipts? Wish you could just hand the stack to someone and for less than dinner out one night, it’s all taken care of? YOU’RE IN LUCK!

My favorite service for this is Shoeboxed.com and they’ll scan, automatically categorize & send back or recycle your receipts (depending on your tier). It works like Netflix where you get an envelope that you stuff full and mail back (postage is already taken care of) and they send you a new envelope for your next wad.

They recently added business card scanning to their list of services too!

After they scan, everything is downloadable to Quicken, Excel, PDF, or CSV so you can import to your contact database or financial system. The IRS now accepts scanned receipts for tax purposes, and if ever there’s a dispute, you can click on a full size picture of the original receipt.

They’ve also have a great reporting tool so you can see spending charts to get a handle on your budget.

So if you want to clear the stacks of cards and be able to sit without leaning because your wallet’s too fat, click here to learn more or sign up.

I want to know, what do you keep in your wallet? Is it fat or skinny? What are your essentials for leaving the house?

We all got ‘em….old diaper boxes, computer component boxes, Amazon.com shipments….so let’s reduce/reuse/recycle by putting them to good use and control our clutter!

Keep an empty box in every closet of the house:

• Front hall closet: keep a box for “outgoing” items like store returns, library books, or items that belong to someone else. Next time you go out, grab the box!
• Kitchen pantry: keep a box for things that belong in another room like kid’s toys or loose papers. When it gets full, take 10 minutes and transport them to the right room then put the empty box back in the pantry so it’s ready for the next batch of clutter.
• Clothes closet: keep a box for items you no longer wear and want to donate. When it’s full, drop it off.
• Kid’s playrooms: keep a box in your kid’s rooms or playrooms for toys they no longer want to play with. Donate them when it gets full.
• Home office: keep a box for shred items. If you own a shredder, shred while you’re watching TV. If you don’t own a shredder, take it to a shredding service. Check with your town hall to see if your town has quarterly “shred-a-thons.”
• Craft rooms: keep a box for fabric & ribbon scraps, bits of yarn, and left over cotton polyfill. In early spring, set the box outside for a month and let birds use the bits to make their nests!

(TIP: If you’re on a tight budget or don’t have a box lying around, your local ABC store will let you have boxes for free. They’re already put together and they’re a manageable size to fit anywhere and still be light enough to lift when they’re full.)